Idioms in Translation of Children's Literature: The Big Clay Jar by Moradi Kermani

Abstract

Translating for children requires special considerations particularly in terms of style. This study addresses use of idioms as a stylistic device and the way they are translated in a children’s fiction. Choosing Hooshang Moradi-Kermani’s Khomre and its English translation by Teimoor Ruhi, the following research questions were formulated: 1. What procedures are used to translate idioms in children’s literature? 2. What is the most frequent procedure used in translating idioms in Khomre as a children’s book? 3. What is the translator’s preferred strategy in translating Khomre as a piece of children’s literature? In order to answer the first and second questions and find out the procedures opted for in translating children’s literature, Baker’s (1992) proposed procedures were taken as the framework of the study. And to answer the third question venuti’s (2004) model of domestication and foreignization strategies was adopted as the framework. To collect and analyze the data, first, the Persian idioms occurring in the book Khomreh as a piece of children’s literature and their English translations given by Teimoor Ruhi were identified and paired. Next, the procedures used by the translator were identified and their frequency and percentage were calculated, the results were presented in a table and a chart for subsequent analysis and discussion. Then the general translation strategy related to each example and procedure was identified. The analysis revealed that in the English rendering all the procedures proposed by Baker (1992) as well as a combination of some of the procedures were used. The most frequent procedure was paraphrasing and the general translation strategy applied was that of domestication.